Dairy lobby group banned from Federal Government symposium, slams meeting as 'a performance'

A dairy lobby group, banned from attending a key industry meeting planned by the deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, claims only those in support of Federal Government policies made the guest list. By Danielle Grindlay
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At the Melbourne dairy symposium, planned for Thursday, Mr Joyce will meet with dairy stakeholders to discuss the government’s role in the industry crisis.
Dairy Australia and lobby group United Dairyfarmers of Victoria (UDV) will attend, but lobby group Farmer Power was not invited.
Farmer Power’s demands largely differ to those of the invitees, including a campaign to introduce a levy on fresh milk sold in Australia.
But for every farmer against the group’s approach, Farmer Power vice president Alex Robertson said he could find another in support.
Therefore, he said, half of the farmers impacted by retrospective price cuts by Murray Goulburn and Fonterra would not have their views represented in discussions with the government.
«There’s quite a bit of a divide — one half of the industry basically wants to do what the Liberal Party says and just do nothing,» he said.
«The other half are not happy with the way the industry’s going and want change.
«This meeting is just another performance; nothing will come of it.»
Although Farmer Power is not recognised as an official representative body, its meetings and rallies have attracted huge support from farmers.
In May, about 700 Victorian producers attended a Farmer Power meeting in south west Victoria.
Then a few weeks later, thousands of protestors took to the streets of Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, in rallies that attracted national media coverage and the attention of politicians.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce responded to relentless lobbying by the group in a letter that pointed to this week’s symposium.
«I will convene a dairy industry symposium involving dairy farmers, processors and retailers to discuss industry solutions to the problems impacting the dairy industry,» Mr Joyce said in a statement.
«Further information on the symposium will be made public as the details are confirmed.»
The Federal Government has since confirmed that Farmer Power would not be allowed into the meeting.
«Barnaby Joyce’s office is just not interested in talking to us, full stop,» Mr Robertson said.
«They don’t want change, they don’t want to do anything.»
Mr Robertson said there was only space on the guest list for groups that had showed support of the Government’s policies.
«The UDV basically follows the tune of the Liberal Party,» he said.
Mr Joyce’s office said there was limited space for farmer groups and that UDV was recognised as the body representing Victorian dairy producers.
UDV conservative but effective, says president
UDV president Adam Jenkins agreed his group’s approach was conservative, but rejected suggestions it had lost lobbying power.
«We’ve been very very clear and strong on what we want,» he said.
«We want the clawback and those contracts fixed up. We want much more transparency around pricing … also a [pricing] index that the Federal Government made a commitment to before their election.
«We [also] have a number of farmers in Western Australia at the moment where they don’t have a home for their milk and that’s quite concerning.
«We want to work through those situations to make sure it doesn’t happen in Victoria or other places.»
Mr Jenkins said the UDV had hosted «excellent meetings» with state and federal governments and was «comfortable» with the way things were progressing.
«Everything takes time,» he said.
«When you’ve got a bureaucracy you’ve got to work through, things don’t happen overnight.
«We put the factual information out there — the actual information we’ve got at hand — and the [government’s] door is usually open.»
 
Source:  ABC
Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-22/dairy-symposium-farmer-power-federal-government-milk-price/7772310
 

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Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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